TikTok’s expansion of its Family Pairing feature gives parents more control over their kid’s account. Parents now have a say in what their child searches for, the discoverability of their kid’s account, as well as who can comment on their kid’s videos.
TikTok Puts Parents in Control
TikTok introduced its Family Pairing tool in April 2020, which allows parents to adjust certain settings on their kid’s TikTok account. Initially, this feature only let parents restrict certain content, disable direct messages, as well as control how long their child uses TikTok.
In a post on the TikTok Newsroom, the platform announced that it’s now expanding Family Pairing. TikTok notes that the expansion will “give parents greater oversight and families a more robust set of tools to create the TikTok experience that’s right for them.”
Now, parents will get the ability to control their child’s searches on the app. Parents can determine whether their child can search TikTok for sounds, users, hashtags, and videos.
Parents can also set boundaries on who can comment on their child’s videos. TikTok gives parents three options to choose from: everyone on the app, friends only, or no one at all.
Additionally, the new and improved Family Pairing tool gives parents the power to adjust their child’s discoverability on the app.
This means that parents can set their child’s account to private, which limits who can see their kid’s videos. Alternatively, parents can also set their kid’s account to public, allowing anyone to search for and view their child’s content.
The last addition to TikTok’s Family Pairing tool has to do with the visibility of liked videos. According to TikTok, “this control empowers families to decide whether others can see the list of videos your teen has liked.”
TikTok already has a couple of safety measures in place for children on the app. Not only are users under the age of 16 banned from sending direct messages, but any user younger than 13 must use a view-only version of TikTok. That said, the platform hopes that the newly-expanded Family Pairing tool will “strike a balance between safety and autonomy for teenagers.”
Keeping Your Kid Safe on TikTok
TikTok has been under fire for posing a national security threat, and still faces a potential ban in the US. As of right now, the app’s status is currently hanging in limbo.
Whatever happens to TikTok, it’s important for parents to understand how exactly the app works. A better understanding of the app can help parents determine what steps they can take to protect their kid on TikTok.